Academic Integrity

General information

Academic integrity is highly valued at UCSD and academic dishonesty is considered a serious offense. Students involved in an academic integrity violation will face an administrative sanction which may include suspension or, in very serious cases, expulsion from the university. Furthermore, there is an academic sanction, which is imposed by the instructor of the course - in this class you will receive an F if you are involved in any academic intergrity violation.

Make sure to visit the Academic Integrity Website to understand what academic integrity violations are, how you can avoid them, and what administrative sanctions to expect.

Your integrity has great value: Cultivate and protect your academic integrity.

If you need help with the course work

Ways to get help:

Go to office hour of the instructor or TA. You can ask specific questions on the material or ask how to study best for this class. If you feel office hour is too crowded to ask your questions, I will also be happy to schedule an individual meeting with you to discuss best ways of learning/studying for this class.
Go to the discussion sections. There you'll get the chance to get help in a small group.
Form a study group with other students. Often it can be good to discuss topics with other students and study together for exams. Note that the aim of a study group is to help each other, not to provide or get solutions to homework/exam problems to/from somebody else - this is an academic integrity violation!
Start/join discussions on Piazza.
Check out the Academic Achievement Hub for information.

Avoid: Homework ''help'' websites, tutors who do the assignments for you, copying solutions from another student - these do not help you learn and are academic integrity violations!

How to avoid academic integrity violations in this class

Academic integrity violations can occur on exams (midterm, final, quizzes) and on homework assignments. The most important rules to avoid violations are the following:

Read the entire course website and make sure you understand the rules for each type of assignment.
If you are unsure about anything concerning academic integrity, or have specific questions on what is allowed, ASK me! I will be happy to answer your questions. The worst thing that can happen is that you violate academic integrity without knowing it (for example, by using a calculator even though it is not allowed). You will still be reported to the academic integrity office, ignorance is not an excuse!
Regularly challenge yourself: If the instructor or a TA were watching me, would they be ok with the aids I am using?

Here is a summary of what is allowed in this course:

Assignment type	Textbook, lecture notes	Solutions to HW/discussion problems	Electronic devices (e.g. calculator), MATLAB	Internet	Ask instructor/TA	Collaboration with other students
Homework	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes to search concepts/definitions, not to search/copy/post entire problems	Yes, we also give hints	Yes, see below what that means exactly
Quizzes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes, but only to understand the question	No
Midterm, final	No, but handwritten sheet of notes allowed, see the syllabus	No, but handwritten sheet of notes allowed, see the syllabus	No	No	Yes, but only to understand the question	No

Collaboration: Exchanging ideas with other people is important and helpful to find solutions to any type of problem. When you join a company, being able to work in a team is a valuable asset. Nevertheless, you should be careful to not confuse "collaboration" with copying solutions. Collaboration means that you collect ideas for possible solutions to a problem with other people and work together towards a result. You are allowed to do that for homework assignments. If you collaborate with others, every student still needs to submit their own solution.

Getting a solution to a homework assignment from another student (or the internet) and copying it is not collaboration, and not allowed in this class. Also sharing your entire homework solution with another student is an academic integrity violation. If you want to help, explain the concepts and give hints so that they can solve it by themselves.

In quizzes, exams and midterms you have to work by yourself, no collaboration is allowed.

A fun way to understand what collaboration means is by playing Hanabi. In Hanabi, you work towards a goal with others, can give hints, but are not allowed to reveal the cards you see.